Right-sizing Lummi Island Ferry – Demand and Capacity

A choice must be made about the size of the replacement Lummi Island ferry. PLIC-White-Paper-3-Demand-and-Capacity-Options- summarizes the planning consultants’ estimated demand for vehicle transport in the decades ahead, especially during ‘peak normal use’, generally commuting periods. It also describes how three larger ferries might accommodate that vehicle traffic. All three ferries could be operated with 3 crew members (larger vessels would require adding a 4th crew member, thereby increasing labor costs by 30%). There are trade-offs among these options on capital and operational costs, as well as on vehicle wait times when vehicle traffic is heavy.